Pfizer has agreed to pay $59.7m to resolve illegal payments to healthcare professionals made by Biohaven Pharmaceuticals, a biopharma it acquired over two years ago.
The charges allege that Biohaven submitted false claims to Medicare and other federal healthcare programmes by paying kickbacks to doctors so they would preferentially prescribe the company’s migraine drug Nurtec ODT (rimegepant). A kickback is a negotiated bribe in the form of an illegal payment intended as compensation for preferential treatment.
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The fraudulent activities occurred between March 2020 and September 2022, predating Pfizer’s involvement with Biohaven. The civil settlement came via a False Claims Act lawsuit filed by Patrica Frattasio, a former sales representative of Biohaven and whistleblower on the case concerning the company’s kickback payments. The False Claims Act is a law that enables whistleblowers and private individuals to sue on behalf of the government in fraud cases. Frattasio will receive $8.4m for her role in the settlement, whilst $50.2m and $9.2m represent federal recovery and Medicaid programme recoveries, respectively.
“Patients deserve to know that their doctor is prescribing medications based on their doctor’s medical judgment, and not as a result of financial incentives from pharmaceutical companies,” said US Attorney Trini E. Ross for the Western District of New York.
The government added that some prescribers on Biohaven’s payment schemes attended repeat programmes, gaining no further educational benefit. Spouses, family members, and friends were also present at speaking events and meals, taking advantage of Biohaven’s kickbacks.
By settling, Pfizer has resolved the allegations whilst not admitting wrongdoing. The government asserted that Biohaven’s fraud stopped in October 2022, when Pfizer acquired the company and terminated the Nurtec speaker programmes.
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By GlobalData“We are pleased to put this legacy matter behind us, so that we can continue to focus on the needs of patients,” Pfizer said in a statement to Reuters.
Pfizer paid $11.6bn to buy Biohaven, largely on the financial performance of Nurtec ODT. The drug went on to generate global sales of $928m in sales in 2023. Known as Vydura in Europe, Nurtec ODT is forecast to see global annual sales of $2.2bn by 2030 according to GlobalData’s Pharma Intelligence Centre.
GlobalData is the parent company of Pharmaceutical Technology.
Pfizer is not the only big pharma to settle kickback claims in the US recently. Teva Pharmaceuticals agreed to pay $450m over claims it used charities to boost sales of the multiple sclerosis drug Copaxone (glatiramer acetate) in October 2024.
